Rammussassin - A ganky, AP look at a tanky, OP champ.

Rammus Build

Table of Contents

Introduction

Most people play Rammus as a tank, and why not? He's got great abilities for disrupting fights, preventing damage from being done to his teammates, and taking it well himself. However, his abilities also work very well at ganking and aggressive fighting. With a good engaging ability, great survivability, strong burst damage, and effective escape mechanisms, Rammus can be a strong assassin, given the right build, masteries, and summoner spells.

This guide will show you how to strike fear in the lanes.

There are a few VERY important things to note when following this guide:

1. It is NOT easy to play. You will probably die a lot, especially while trying to figure out exactly how much you can take, when to go in/back off, etc.

2. It is NOT a good idea in pub matches. Your teammates will see Rammus and expect that no more tank is necessary on the team, since Rammus is like, 5 tanks in one. If you don't have friends and therefore can't play on a premade team, find some friends or don't play this guide. If you absolutely, positively HAVE TO TRY OUT AP RAM, tell your team at the very start that you'll be a tanky caster, NOT a tank.

3. AP is awesome, but tanks are required. If you're dying to play AP Ram, but you see that your team is suffering from lack of tankiness, don't be a dick, buy a Thornmail and a Force of Nature. Rammus is still the best tank in the game and it is your responsibility to pick up your team's slack.

All that being said, AP Rammus can be very strong if you've got a team willing to support his rather unique and unexpected playstyle.

PB: Amaaaazing ability. This is AP Rammus' bread and butter. 1:1 AP scaling on a AOE that slows, as well as a great movement buff for ganking/ initiating/ running awaaaay makes this one of the best abilities in the game.

DBC: Tank. On a stick! Do you understand how much Armor and Magic resist 150 is?? A LOT. Make yourself a delicious target to the other team, then pop this bad boy. Woah, suddenly you take no damage! Oh, and once you get Rylai's, DBC's damage return slows. AWWWW YEAHHH!

*Note: You NEED to make sure you can get this ability off if you're going to engage in a teamfight. You won't last long with this build if you don't pop this in time. Watch for stuns, silences, and pop-ups that will keep you squishy!

PT: Great for ganks, great for teamfights, great for YOU, bad for that poor Ashe that is now shooting off her own health. Great in conjunction with DBC for obvious reasons. This ability is excellent in lane since you can keep your lanemate alive or draw the enemy into turret range, but for keeping an enemy from running, PB is generally more effective, since it is a popup followed by a slow that lasts much longer.

Strong ult for teamfights and pushing lanes. .3:1 AP scaling over 8 seconds... do the math, kids! That's a 2.4:1 AP Scaling over all 8 seconds. The only ability with a higher scaling is Nunu's Ult at 2.5:1 But that one A. Can't hurt turrets, B. Can be disrupted early, C. Does all of it's damage at once, so it can be avoided fairly easily, D. doesn't let your move it to follow your enemies, and E. Is very very obvious, so the enemy team is much more likely to avoid it.

Throw a Rylai's on Ramram, and you've got a massive AOE slow that deals a deceptively high amount of magic damage while giving your team control of the fight.

Items: Laning

Ok, so here's where things get fun. Rammus is an incredibly strong champ, and being an incredibly strong champ, he has a lot of wiggle room with his builds to allow for maximum pwnage. I used to do a lot of theorycrafting, trying to figure out specific pros and cons of different builds, but I realized that there is no way to predict what will be the best course of action. Instead, you need to be ready to adapt to your enemies. That being said, if you want to follow the path of the AP Ram, here's a good place to start:

Head off to your lane with a Doran's Ring and brace for epic. Yes ring, not shield. The early AP is nice, the health is a decent boost, and the MP/5 is critical over the Shield. Preferably, go to lane with a ranged DPS. I'll go into this more in the laning part of the guide.

Eventually, you'll either get yourself killed with your sheer force of awesome, or get bored of being so awesome and have to go back. When you do, buy some boots. You have three options when it comes to boots. If you're totally committed to the AP Experience, throw on some Sorcerer's shoes. If you're totally committed to the Ganking Experience, throw on some Mobo Boots. If you're undecided and think you might have to drop the AP charade, pick up the ever-useful Swifty's.

If things are looking well for your and your team, rush a Rylai's. The faster you get this, the more faces you will smash in with your epic glory. Health, AP, and a delicious slow that procs on 3 of your abilities... You'll be the envy of all the other armadillos at school.

After that, there are only two more items that this build really requires. First is the Rod of Ages. Getting that catalyst early is nice since you eat through your mana very quickly. Also, finishing it before the 30-minute mark is critical if you want to have it fully grown by the end of the game. After RoA, grab yourself a Zhonya's Hourglass. Armor and AP, plus the ability to press pause on life if you're having trouble handling how awesome you are.

PROTIP: How to backdoor turrets with AP Ram. PB up to it, arriving at the turret right as PB ends (press Q again to cancel if you miss-timed it). DBC and start hitting it with your face. Right as DBC is about to end, Ult and then Zhonya's. You'll continue doing damage to the turret while your un-DBC'd body will not be taking pew pews. Once you come out of Zhonya's, DBC should be pretty close to being up again. Throw that on, and keep wailing. Be ready to jet if your health gets low, and PB to safety. Congratulations, you is a pro.

Other items AP Rammus finds delicious include:

Abyssal Scepter: AP, MR, and an aura that makes your ouchies ouchier. Get this only if you have another strong Mage on your team.

Banshee's Veil: Mana and health are awesome! And so are you!! And so is MR!!! And so is a bubble that keeps your enemies from locking you out of DBC! :D

Rabaddon's Deathcap: If you want to kick WAY more ass than you should.

Quicksilver Sash: Excellent for those pesky Mordes and Ashes and Malzahars and Annies and Alistars. Seriously, I fought that team once, it was miserable. Until everyone on our team got one of these, then it was a breeze.